• Happy Thanksgiving! It's hard to believe there is only one more month left in the semester. (Then again, September seems like a distant memory.)
• As we start this last month, the Music Player has new music -- this time, from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. These pieces are featured in the Listening Guides in Parts 6, 7 and 8 of the textbook. Read the Listening Guide for each piece in the textbook as you listen. (Better yet, install the interactive Listening Guides on your computer and use them.)
By the way, the Player contains five recordings that fall outside the required reading material. The pieces are the excerpts from Brahms, Verdi and Puccini and the Gillespie/Parker jazz composition.
• Check the Practice Material page for the Practice Quiz we did not get to on Wednesday. Apologies to Section 1 for not telling you that the quiz would be on the Web.
Note to Section 1 (11 a.m.) Because someone in Section 2 asked about this -- if you want, you can e-mail me a copy of your take-home essay and I will proof it and send it back to you. Send it to jmeschi@liu.edu BEFORE 6 p.m. Sunday.
Note: The quiz is Monday the 21st, not Nov. 24th. That's Thanksgiving.
• Here's a a follow-up to today's look at the eras of Classical music. (The page is also listed on the Practice Material page.)
If you have Real Player installed on your computer, take the time and listen to some of the musical examples for the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque eras. This way you get a chance to hear a few more examples of music from these time periods over and above what's included on the textbook CDs.
Also check the Enjoyment of Music Online Tutor for more about these time periods. You'll find links for each era on a menu bar on the Eras tab near the top of the tutor.
For even more listening examples, visit the W.W. Norton Online Listening Lab and follow the directions to login. (It's free.)
• Now that the first quiz is over, we'll start our readings about the history of music starting with the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque eras. Make sure you listen to your CDs, and if you have a computer, install the Interactive Listening Guide software. If you're out on the Web, you can listen to the music from the CDs using this Music Player.
• We'll also go back and take closer looks at Form, Melody and Rhythm. Check Looking at Form for examples of Form Analysis.
• As you read through the textbook, check Online Lessons for Every Chapter for further material you can read and listen to. We will be covering Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the textbook over the next few weeks. The sections are Units III to VIII plus Transitions I and II.
• (And don't forget the Enjoyment of Music Online Tutor)
• Log-in instructions for WebCT have been moved here.
• Here's the music for the three movements of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 15 in C. Try listening to the beginning of the first movement while you follow along with the music you received in class.
• Here's the excerpt of the opening of the sonata we played in the lab which let's you listen to the beginning of the first movement and follow the music on the screen.
We'll talk more about the piece in class and you'll read about Mozart later on in the semester. Meanwhile, here's more about him.